EPAAn unidentified tourist (L) stands as members of a rescue team search for victims under the rubble of a tourist's hotel in Thamel, a tourist hub in Kathmandu, a day after a massive earthquake in Nepal. EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Johannesburg - The Gift of the Givers said on Sunday a highly qualified team of 40 medical and search and rescue personnel, was preparing to assist in Nepal after the deadly earthquake.

The south Asian country was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on Saturday and over 1,900 people were reported to have died.

“Gift of the Givers is ready to respond; the restricting factors being the closure of Kathmandu Airport to commercial flights, the availability of visas to a neighboring country and accessibility to Nepal through this neighboring country. Irrespective, preparations are underway,” said founder Imtiaz Sooliman, in a statement. He said 20 qualified team of trauma specialists and 20 highly qualified search and rescue personnel were available and ready. “Together with world class technological equipment including the Life Locator (a machine that can accurately predict the presence of life 10 meters below the rubble in 3 minutes), the search cam (a camera facility that provides video footage as the team search through rubble), and other relevant equipment is available and ready as an integral part of our response capability.” Sooliman said a Napalese doctor was part of their team, which was mostly made up of South Africans.

AP reported that at least 1 970 people have been reported dead on Sunday. The quake was centered outside Kathmandu, the capital, and was the worst to hit the nation in over 80 years. It destroyed swaths of the oldest neighborhoods of Kathmandu, and was strong enough to be felt all across parts of India, Bangladesh, China’s region of Tibet and Pakistan. Out of the 1 970, at least 721 of them died in Kathmandu alone, and the number of injured nationwide was upward of 5 000.